Collaborative Research RUI: Examination of the Effect of Templating Agents on the Size, Shape and Chiral Recognition of Bifurcated Amino Acid Based Amphiphilic Molecular Assemblies

合作研究 RUI：检查模板剂对基于分叉氨基酸的两亲性分子组装体的尺寸、形状和手性识别的影响

• 批准号: 2203652
• 负责人: Eugene Billiot
• 金额: $ 37.49万
• 依托单位: Texas A&M University Corpus Christi
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2022-09-15 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2203652&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: Collaborative; Research; RUI; Examination; Effect

With the support of the Macromolecular, Supramolecular and Nanochemistry Program in the Division of Chemistry, Eugene Billiot, Fereshteh Billiot and Mark Olson of Texas A&M University Corpus Christi (TAMUCC), along with their collaborator Kevin Morris at Carthage College, will synthesize and characterize a novel class of “branched” amino acid-based surfactants. The goal of the research is to understand the molecular factors responsible for the aggregation and self-assembly of these molecules into structures that will interact with and recognize molecules of biological importance. Synthesis of the surfactants will use a green chemistry approach where materials will be prepared from amino acid-based starting materials instead of potentially hazardous polyaromatic hydrocarbons. Furthermore, since the surfactants are amino acid-based, they are expected to be biocompatible. The research will help fill a void in the current knowledge base that is critical for the proper design and selection of more efficient chiral selectors. In addition, since enantiorecognition of the systems under study is based upon amino acid-scaffolding, the knowledge gained from these studies will be potentially transferable to other amino acid-based systems such as proteins. This project is a collaboration between two primarily undergraduate institutions, with one of those two institutions, TAMUCC, being a Hispanic-serving institution (HSI). Thus, the research to be funded by this grant will serve as a tool for the research team to recruit, train, and mentor students from underrepresented and economically challenged backgrounds and to encourage these students to pursue post baccalaureate degrees in science.The research is focused on investigating and elucidating the factors responsible for (a) self-assembly, (b) function, (c) higher ordered structure and (d) molecular recognition of amino acid-based macromolecular assemblies (AABMAs). A comparison of the properties of “linear” AABMAs to novel “bifurcated” AABMAs will be made and how they are affected by factors such as surfactant concentration, surfactant type (linear vs bifurcated), pH, and type of counterion/templating agent affect the size, shape, physical properties, and enantiomeric recognition of AABMAs. The AABMAs will be studied in both their monomeric and polymeric forms. The AABMAs micelles will be crosslinked by exposure to Co60 gamma radiation or 185 nm vacuum UV radiation. The effect of pH, counterion/templating agent, and surfactant concentration on polymerization, self-assembly, function, higher order structure and molecular recognition will be studied. A variety of techniques such as nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), fluorescence, Small Angle Neutron Scattering (SANS), small angle X-ray scattering, cryo-transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering methods, as well as capillary electrophoresis (CE) will be utilized to learn more about the physical properties of the AABMAs formed. Thermodynamic studies will be conducted to yield insight into the binding interactions between the chiral molecular recognition units of the surfactants/polymer micelles and the chiral analytes that will be targeted for chiral separations using titration microcalorimetry.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

在化学系大分子，超分子和纳米化学项目的支持下，德克萨斯A M大学科珀斯克里斯蒂分校（TAMUCC）的尤金Billiot，Fereshteh Billiot和Mark Olson沿着他们的合作者Kevin Morris将合成并表征一类新型的“支链”氨基酸表面活性剂。该研究的目标是了解负责这些分子聚集和自组装成结构的分子因素，这些结构将与具有生物重要性的分子相互作用并识别这些分子。表面活性剂的合成将使用绿色化学方法，其中材料将由基于氨基酸的起始材料而不是潜在危险的聚芳烃制备。此外，由于表面活性剂是基于氨基酸的，因此预期它们是生物相容的。这项研究将有助于填补目前知识基础的空白，这对于正确设计和选择更有效的手性选择剂至关重要。此外，由于所研究的系统的对映体识别是基于氨基酸支架，从这些研究中获得的知识将有可能转移到其他基于氨基酸的系统，如蛋白质。该项目是两个主要的本科院校之间的合作，其中一个机构，TAMUCC，是一个西班牙裔服务机构（HSI）。因此，这项研究将作为一个工具，由该基金资助的研究小组招募，培训和指导学生从代表性不足和经济困难的背景，并鼓励这些学生追求学士后学位的科学。研究的重点是调查和阐明的因素负责（a）自组装，（B）功能，（c）更高级有序结构和（d）基于氨基酸的大分子组装体（AABMAs）的分子识别。“线性”AABMAs的性能的比较，新的“分叉”AABMAs将和它们如何受到影响的因素，如表面活性剂浓度，表面活性剂类型（线性与分叉），pH值，和类型的counterparts/模板剂影响的大小，形状，物理性质，和对映体识别AABMAs。AABMAs将在其单体和聚合物的形式进行研究。AABMA胶束将通过暴露于Co 60 γ辐射或185 nm真空UV辐射进行交联。研究了pH值、反离子/模板剂、表面活性剂浓度对聚合、自组装、功能、高级结构和分子识别的影响。各种技术，如核磁共振（NMR），荧光，小角中子散射（SANS），小角X射线散射，低温透射电子显微镜，动态光散射方法，以及毛细管电泳（CE）将被用来了解更多关于形成的AABMAs的物理性质。热力学研究将深入了解表面活性剂/聚合物胶束的手性分子识别单元与手性分析物之间的结合相互作用，这些手性分析物将用于使用滴定微量热法进行手性分离。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。